Ethan Biggers dies
A Beavercreek man who was wounded in Iraq March 5, 2006, died Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis..
Army Spc. Ethan Biggers, 22, a 1993 Beavercreek High School graduate, had been in a coma since being shot in the head.
"Saturday morning ... Ethan woke up a little and started moving his head. He started yawning and making different facial expressions, including smiles," his sister, Liza, said on the website www.caringbridge.com. "I went to get coffee, came back and Matt (his twin brother) went to use the restroom. When both Matt and I were back in the room, Ethan started taking deep gasps. Jess walked in and I asked her to get Charlie, as somehow I just knew this was it. Ethan continued to move his head and look up. When all four of us were in the room, he heard everyone's voice, he smiled one more time and made a sound. Two gasps more and he was gone. Matt held his hand, I was holding his head, Jess was at his feet, and Charlie stood by me. Ethan left with a smile surrounded by his family. It was very peaceful."
After graduating from Beavercreek High School, the Biggers twins followed family tradition and joined the armed forces, according to their sister. "Their grandfather's destroyer, the 'Newcomb,' was severely damaged by five Kamikazes at Okinawa during World War II," Liza said. "Their father served as a C-130 pilot in Vietnam and later in KC-135s, and Ethan and Matt chose to serve in the United States Army as infantrymen, Ethan in B Company 1-502nd 'The Deuce' Infantry Regiment in the 101st Air Assault Division 'Screaming Eagles,' Matt in B Company 1-26th 'Blue Spaders' Infantry Regiment in the First Infantry Division, 'Big Red One.'
Approximately a month after finishing basic training, Ethan was deployed to Iraq in 2003, according to his sister. "He was stationed in Mosul for two months before the 101st switched out with another division," she said. Two months after Ethan returned to Fort Campbell, Ky., Matt, who was stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany, was deployed in Iraq in February 2004, his sister said. "He was in Tikrit for the first four months, then moved to Samara," she said. "Right before Christmas, Matt drove his Bradley over an IED or double-stacked mines, which punctured the hull and blew off the left track, but spared the men inside." At the same time, Ethan was training in Fort Campbell. He would return to Beavercreek on weekends, according to his sister. He began dating a high school friend, Britni Fuller. Matt finished his first tour in Iraq in February 2005, his sister said. "The Biggers family then enjoyed a peaceful period of seven months in which neither brother was stationed in a combat zone," she said.
http://www.tcnewsnet.com/main.asp?SectionID=18&SubSectionID=263&ArticleID=143416&TM=6790.056
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